Wastebaskets having a cover which is hinged to a base and opened by actuation of a foot pedal are known in the art. Such devices are advantageous in that the hands of the user are thus freed to conveniently carry trash to and deposit it in the receptacle.
Most prior art foot activated wastebaskets are of the single step variety whereby the user depresses a foot pedal to open the container and must continue to apply foot pressure to the pedal to maintain the container open. As such, the mobility of the user is limited in that he will not be able to move any appreciable distance to reach for additional trash to put into the container without removing his foot and thereby permitting the container to close necessitating that it be reopened with a subsequent foot pedal actuation. While some single step wastebaskets eliminate this problem by allowing the cover to swing substantially past ninety degrees and thereby stay open under the influence of gravity, such causes additional problems or inconveniences. First, most such devices must be manually closed. Moreover, such wastebaskets cannot be placed at their most usual position close to a wall because either the cover would not swing far enough to be maintained open or the cover would continually bump and rest against the wall potentially marring the finish thereof.
In response to the problems encountered with the single step foot activated wastebaskets, some foot activated wastebaskets have been developed wherein after opening the container via actuation of the foot pedal, the user's foot may be removed and the cover will stay open. A second actuation of the foot pedal will then close the cover when desired. However, these two step varieties quite often include a large number of complex parts, such as springs and the like, and are not only hard to assemble but also are otherwise unreliable in that the mechanisms will not always function as desired.
Typical of such two step varieties is the device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,964. In that device a pin rides in a multi-radiused enclosed slot with enlargements at the ends thereof in which the pin is intended to rest during the operational steps. Such a construction, however, is susceptible to misoperations as when, for example, the user depresses the foot pedal with light and slow pressure causing the pin to miss its proper engagement with one of the enlargements thereby rendering the foot pedal inoperative to open the cover.
In an attempt to alleviate such misengagement problems of the device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,964, a counterweight was added to urge the pin into the proper position within the slot as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,214. However, even with the addition of this counter-weight, the frictional forces between it and other portions of the mechanism often prohibit it from performing in accordance with its intended purpose.
Moreover, the devices of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,785,964 and 4,865,214 are not without other problems which are in need of solution. As a practical matter, the commercial units made in accordance with these patents are sold as multipiece units which are difficult to assemble, particularly by the end user. The separate actuating mechanism must be threaded into place in the slot at the same time an attempt is made to attach the cover to the base. If the cover is attached to the base before the actuating mechanism is in place, the actuating mechanism cannot be properly located. Thus, the user must first thread the actuating mechanism in place and then tediously attempt to locate the cover in place on its hinge without allowing the actuating mechanism to dislodge from its desired position.
Both of these devices, as well as many other prior art devices, likewise are plagued by the fact that the user is usually desirous of placing the wastebasket against a wall to save space in a room. As such, when the foot pedal is depressed the cover will tend to hit the adjacent wall which not only can mar the wall, but also, more importantly, will tend to tip the container forwardly away from the wall and toward the user with the potential of spilling the contents of the waste container.
Finally, in order to avoid frequent cleaning of the trash container, most users will line the container with conventional plastic refuse bags, supporting the same around the rim of the container. As such, these bags often interfere with and otherwise jam the operating mechanism. To avoid these occurrences, many manufacturers have molded a tongue-like projection into the lid which extends outwardly therefrom at the area of the operating mechanism to push the portion of the bag located near the operating mechanism away from the same as the cover is being closed. However, such a solution is not totally practical inasmuch as the projection not only renders the cover more difficult to mold, but also the covers cannot be conveniently stacked for economic shipment and retail display.